Fire doors are an integral part of fire safety in both residential and commercial buildings, but what regulations and standards do you have to adhere to? All buildings, both residential and commercial, must contain certain doors that are installed to protect their occupants and visitors from the risk of a fire outbreak. The main reason for a fire door is to help save lives and further damage to the property. It is essential that these doors are constructed to a certain standard, so they perform by slowing the progress of any fire outbreak within the building to the specified time limit (at a minimum). The most common fire door installed is an FD30 that provides fire protection for a minimum of 30 minutes, with commercial buildings more commonly having a FD60 (60 Minute door) installed. Where fire doors are required Stating the obvious, it is advisable to fit a fire door anywhere where there is a risk of a fire outbreak. Some areas carry a higher fire risk than others, kitchen areas, rooms that contain any electrical equipment or cupboards containing highly flammable materials for example. Doors allowing access to these rooms should be fire rated. There are legal requirements for all buildings, including domestic properties, and these regulations stipulate that any two-storey building that has a door leading into it from an integral garage, then it must be a fire door. Likewise, any new-build or renovation property with three or more storeys (including loft conversions), must have at least FD30 fire doors leading to and from every habitable room off the stairwell. For added safety, it is advisable to fit doors that provide greater protection, FD60 doors, provide additional safety and greater time for building egress in the event of a fire outbreak. Smoke seals are recommended where a fire door approaches or protects an escape shaft such as a staircase or corridor or where a fire door is between a private area and a common space. A good example is the front door of a flat. Smoke seals should also be used on doors in corridors leading to dead ends. Where a smoke seal is to be used, the threshold gap should not exceed 3 mm. It is important to remember that a fire door is an element of a whole system called a  “doorset”. BS EN 12519 defines a doorset as “supplied complete with all essential parts from a single source and for which the main intended use is the access of pedestrians.” Following the tragedy of Grenfell Tower in June 2017, the DHF / Secured by Design / Fire Industry Association published A Guide for Selecting Flat Entrance Doorsets. This makes the point that there is no conflict between fire and security with Building Regulations ADB (fire) and ADQ (security) carrying equal weight with neither taking precedence over the other. It explains why only factory produced doorsets can meet both ADB and ADQ. Fire door construction Different standard fire doors provide different levels of protection. FD30 fire doors must be a minimum of 44 mm thick as opposed to a standard, non-fire door of 35/40 mm. The FD60 doors are constructed as a minimum of 54mm thick. Fire doors have a solid core construction made from different materials such as flaxboard, particleboard and solid timber and their assembly can vary greatly. Many will have timber framing around the chosen core with a veneer finish, whilst others may be composed of a 5 to 20mm lipping around the core with a veneer on top. The actual construction materials could differ providing the desired and required fire protection rating is achieved. How fire doors work The door itself must be fitted with suitable intumescent strips, these strips play a vital role in providing the fire safety and achieving the legal fire door rating. These intumescent strips expand when subjected to heat, sealing any gap between the fire door edge and frame. The seals can be fitted within the door frame itself or grooved into the door edge. The materials used for the door frame must comply with the required standards, together with the ironmongery, which will have their own individual integrity test evidence. Performance All fire doors must be able to provide test evidence for proof of performance for the ratings they proclaim and display. They must be tested by an approved third-party body to either BS 476 Part 22 or to the European equivalent (BS EN1634-1) to resist fire for a minimum period of thirty minutes. Compliance to the FSO/ RRO: Building owners need to comply with Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 or the FSO. Article 17 of FSO mentions the need for a suitable maintenance regime and ensuring the efficient state of relevant equipment including fire doors and all types of escape doors. Article 18 requires the responsible person to appoint competent people to fulfil preventive/ protective measures. The FSO is closely related to Building Regulations, which include fire safety, ease of access, glazing safety, acoustics etc. Scotland has similar regulations mentioned in Fire Act 2005 while Northern Ireland has similar rules stated in Fire & Rescue Service Order 2006 and the latest Fire Safety Regulations 2010. Fire certificates issued by the local fire brigade have no legal status anymore for any building since the FSO anoints the responsible person in charge of fire safety, the doors and its maintenance. The responsible person needs to carry out fire risk assessment and ensure the residents safety too. The key changes in the FSO have been: Building owners, landlords, managers and the like can shoulder legal responsibility for fire safety.  A ‘responsible person’ should be appointed for each building and ensure that every year, a fire risk assessment is carried out with proper documentation.  The assessment should demonstrate that all aspects of fire safety management are met, along with respective fire measures; signage; escape door condition and easy evacuation procedures The responsible person can engage someone with expertise to implement on key areas as required. Specifications